Furnace charger



Jan. 24, 1933. Y-rus 1,895,300

FURNACE CHARGER Filed Oct. 29,-1928 v 4 sheets-sheet 1 1 N VEN TOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Jan. 24, 1933. TYTUS 1,895,300

FURNACE CHARGER Fi1ed Oct. 29, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 l l 'l l I N VEN TOR.

John BER A TTORNE Y.

Jan. 24, 1933. J, us 1,895,300

FURNACE cHARgER Fiied Oct. 29, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I N VEN TOR.

Jolm 8.77 m alhwraflm A TTORNE Y.

- 24, 1933. TYTUS 1,895,300

FURNACE CHARGER Filed Oct. 29, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

Jolm 6 5,

ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 24, 1933 UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE JOHN BJTYTUS, OF MIDDLETOWN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN ROLLING HILL COMPANY, OITMIIODLETOWN, OHIO, A. CORPORATION OF OHIO FURNACE CHARGER Application filed October 29, 1928. Serial No. 315,697.

My invention relates to furnace chargers such as are used for charging the reheating furnaces in steel mills, blooms or slabs of metal being fed into and out of these furnaces while the heating operation is in progress, for the purpose of fitting them for further hot work. T

Devices of this type now in use have been limited to a fixed stroke and in the majority of cases are designed to fit a particular furnace. The process of loading furnaces with slabs or bloo'ms of metal is further handicapped in that the charger can not push a single slab or bloom directly through the furnace at the start of loading, but must feed the metal pieces one at a time until the furnace is full before one can be withdrawn at the exit end. Further, to empty the-furnace of good slabs, wasters must be used, or some means taken manually to pull the slabs through. The stroke of this type of char er is generally fixed and adjusted to the wi th of a slab or bloom of metal.

It is the object of my invention to provide a pusher by which a slab or bloom of metal may be pushed directly through the furnace.

Another object of my invention is to provide a pusher which has a variable controlled stroke, so as to charge metal pieces of. differing widths.

A further object is to, provide a charger with which it is possible to pass the first slab or bloom through a furnace to the exit end, and thereafter decrease the length of the stroke b decrements successively equal to the widt of the slab or bloom.

A still further object is to provide a charger which will do these things, but wh1ch at the end of the initial charging operation and thereafter during the continuous use of the furnace, can be limited in stroke to the width of a single slab or bloom so that the metal pieces can be continuously fed through and out of the furnace as a continuous supply is fed by the charger.

A still further object is to provide a.

charger which at the end of a run will discharge one slab at a time successively, by progressively increasing its len h of stroke by increments equal to the widt of the slab, until the'last slab in the furnace has been discharged and the furnace is entirely empty.

These and other objects of my invention which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent from this disclosure, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe a preferred embodiment, reference being had-to the drawings accompanying these specifications.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a part top. plan view of the pusher..

Figure 1A is the continuation of the plan- .gears of the trains enga e the racks 6, and

their rotation willcause t 1e movement of the carriage, the ram bars and the pusher head connected thereto, in a horizontal direction.

The carriage 3 is supported on wheels 7 w-hichin turn are supported and run on a track 8. The stroke of the pusher is regulated by the distance the carriage 3 travels on the track 8, and a control of the operation of the motor will control the length of the stroke. The length of travel of the ram head 2 is at least equal to the length of the horizontal or slightly sloped portion of the furnace skid rails 11, act as supplementary supports to d Thereafter the ram continues to move a d1stance equal to the width of a'slab. This vented by 9 plus t e width of a slab and the door thickness or thicknesses plus an allowance for suitable clearance.

Owing to the length of the r'am'bar 2 between thecarriage 3 and the ram head 1, I have provided shoes 10 on the ram bars and the ram head. These shoes which slide along prevent the sagging of the rambars an heads. During a portion of the in;stroke, these shoes also slide on the top of thefurnace skids 9 inside of the furnace. If desired,

water can be continuously circulated through, P

the ram head- 1 and ram bars 2, by means readily understood but not shown, in order to keep them cool during the loading operation.

a A roller table by which the slab or pieces to be heated are conveyed to a position in front of the ram, comprises the rollers 13 which carry the slab or piece, and apron plates 1411 between the rollers. The apron plates and the rollers are supported by the table stand 15. The roller table shown may be omitted and any suitable means substituted to bring the slabs or pieces to be heated in front of the ram head 1, and at the proper height for charging.

The furnace into which the material is fed may vary with the pieces to be treated, and will be of a type in which the material cold or hot is entered or charged at one end and from which the material is discharged or passed out at the opposite end. a

The rails 11 upon which the shoes 10 slide are supported by stands 16. The stands also support the tracks 8 and the racks 6 at their ends adjoining the rollers 13. The out board ends of the track arejsupported and carried on stands 16a.

As indicated, the carriage 3 is supported by the wheels which travel on the rails and are moved back and forth by the pinions which mesh with the rack. Lateral movement of the carriage 3 is prevented by the flan ed guide wheels 17 engaging the tracks 18, w ile the lateral shifting of the ram bars 2 is pre- 1 the engagement of the shoes 10 with the rails 11-. The shoes are slotted as at 19, and fit over the rails,

While the construction shown employs an electric motor on the carriage, other means for traversing the carriage in either direction will occur to those skilled in the art. As an example hydraulic means may be employed to reciprocate the ram backwardand orward. I1

A slab or bloom is fed over the rollers in front of the ram to charging position. The carriage is then driven forward to actuate first slab or bloom through the furnace until it is in the desired position. This position will be one, say, of maximum heat, or ,a position preparatory to discharge. The 'ram returns, a second metal piece is fed into position on the table, and the ram pushes it into the furnace, meeting the piece previously charged. The opera-' tion of feeding individual pieces is continued in this manner by progressively decreasing the distance traveled by the ram in decrements equal to the width of a'slab'or bloom until the furnace is completely charged.

causes a fresh slab to be charged into the furnace and a heated piece simultaneously to be ushed out of the furnace on the opposite side. At the end of a run the feeding of new pieces across the table is stopped, and the ram head is advanced by progressive increments until the last piece has been pushed down the skids and has slid out of the furnace. It will be evident that I need no waster slabs or blooms to empty my furnace, nor any means to pull the last pieces out the discharge end. It will further be evident that I can continuously run a furnace with less than a full charge, without interrupting the discharge rate; that I can stop the travel of material through the furnace at any time without the difficulties attendant upon allowing pieces to soak in the heat for undue lengths of time, because I can quickly and easily empty the furnace when desired; and that I can if necessary, run single pieces of metal throu h the furnace without any greater difficulty t an a full furnace charge.

Various modifications may be made in my invention to adapt it to varying furnaces without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what means for bringing pieces into position for charging, a ram head and a carriage, guide means for guiding the movement of said carriage, said guide means being in length at least the width of said conveyin means plus the distance of forced travel 0 saidpieces through the furnace, and means for controllably moving said carriage along said guides whereby said ram head maybe advanced in said furnace to the delivery point thereof.

2. A charging means for use with a reheating furnace for preparing metal pieces for hot working, and a conveying means for bringing pieces into position for charging adjacent a charging door in said furnace, said charging means comprising a ram adapted to move over said conveying means and into said furnace to the extent of the forced travel of said pieces therethrough, means for actuating said ram controllably, rails in said furnacefand means for supporting said ram upon said rails throu h said furnace to the delivery point-thereof:

3. In combination with a furnace having a receiving end and an opposite delivery end, and track means inside said furnace lengthwise thereof, apparatus for charging said 5 furnace with metal pieces, comprising a ram and power-operated reciprocable means comprising an extension movable into and out of said furnace to move said ram from a position outward from said charging end to a 10 position whereby a single piece engaged b receiving end and an opposite delivery en of said furnace, and a support for said extension adapted to travel on said track means.

15 JOHN B. TYTUS. 

